The Forestry Heritage Museum at Beechworth, which was opened with much flourish and fanfare by John Haber Phillips AC, Chief Justice of Victoria, during the Beechworth 150th celebrations on 27 July 2003, closes forever today.
A merry band of volunteers from the Forests Commission Retired Personnel Association (FCRPA) will brave the chilly conditions this week to move everything out, and hand the keys back to the Shire.
The museum is currently in the old Gold Warden’s Office, which is one of Beechworth’s original buildings. This building, plus the Chinese Protector’s office next door, were occupied by the Forests Commission in 1920 and continually functioned as a District Office until about 1985.
We don’t have any visitor statistics but, anecdotally, there was a steady stream of foot traffic into the museum making a beeline from where the tourist buses stop and grey nomads park their ginormous Winnebagos towards the iconic Beechworth Bakery for a sticky bun and frothy mugachino.
The museum has always been free entry, but the donation box accumulated enough shekels each month to help keep the lights on and pay the bills like insurance.
Indigo Shire are the custodians of the buildings and in 2021 engaged Melbourne consultants to review the historic precinct around the town. Despite being long-term tenants in the museum building, the FCRPA were not advised or engaged in the process, and a report was lodged before the Council which proposed.
“The Chinese Protector’s Office and the Gold Warden’s Office will be changing exhibition spaces, for artistic activation, interpreting and exploring themes relevant to the Gold Story.”
The retired foresters maintained that the consultants had failed to recognise that forestry has been part of the fabric of Beechworth since the gold-mining era. Many plantations were planted to stabilise the diggings.
Timber was also essential for the development of the mining villages as well as the surrounding farmhouses, for underground mining, for industrial and domestic heating.
Forester H.D. Ingle was stationed in Beechworth in about 1891 and he was followed by M. Griffin in 1905. It was pointed out that the museum building had a longer association with local forestry, land management and bushfires than it ever did with gold.
But the Council made it clear to the retired foresters that their new grand design didn’t include a forestry museum.
To be fair, the Shire has been supportive over the decades opening and closing the building every day and keeping an eye on things.
But more importantly, the membership of the Association is aging and thinning with no new recruitment because our constitution requires members to have been employed by the FCV, which folded in 1984.
And small country museums everywhere are struggling to stay open.
The writing was on the wall…. there was no immediate pressure, but we chose to move out, rather than be booted out.
We also decided a while back to get-with-the-times and digitally photograph our material and make it all freely available online with Victorian Collections. Interestingly, the most popular item at Beechworth has been the Gunter’s Chain.
Some additional items will be photographed this week by Wodonga camera wizard, Mark Jesser.
The best of the artefacts from Beechworth will be merged with DEECA’s Altona collection, which is available to visit by appointment. Surplus and duplicate items are being donated to museums at Heyfield and Mansfield.
Hopefully very little ends up in the skip (but how many hard hats do you really need to keep).
Facing the reality, the retired foresters are also in the process of winding up our affairs to remain as a social club, but still with a significant online presence, until the lights get switched off.
A sad day for sure, but thanks to all those who have shown interest and support for the Beechworth forestry museum.
Victoria’s Forests & Bushfire Heritage 